Man charged in death of 7-year-old girl Jazmine Barnes

[Carnby]

I've been following this tragic story since it happened. A white man pulled up next the the van that was full of Jessica Barnes family and opened fire. The mother was struck in the arm, but sadly, seven year old Jessica died. The family strongly believed it was racially motivated. But now that the shooter has been caught, it turns out he's black and he shot at the family because he mistook their identify.

But as this Vox article explains, the crime resonates with us due to today's political (racist) climate.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office filed capital murder charges late Saturday against a black man named Eric Black Jr., 20, who became a suspect this week based on a tip. Black admitted to taking part in the shooting, but police say other suspects could be involved.

Barnes was riding a car with her mother, LaPorsha Washington, and her three sisters near Houston, when shots pierced through their vehicle at around 6:50 am last Sunday. Washington was struck once by a bullet to her arm. And Washington says when she turned around to check on the children in the backseat, she saw Barnes had been shot in the head.

For much of the last week, the prime suspect was believed to be white. A sketch artistrendering of the suspect depicted a thin, white man in his 30s to 40s. Surveillance footage showed him fleeing the scene in a red pick-up truck.

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The new details complicate a deeply emotional case that has resonated nationally. Without a readily evident explanation of the attack, Washington believed her daughter's death to be an "intentional," racially motivated incident. In interviews and at press conferences, Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney working with Barnes's family, said the shooter's race was a key indicator of his motivations behind the attack.

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"There was no other justification or the motivation that the family could identify, other than a white male who was a complete stranger to them decided to target their family," Merritt said Thursday at a news conference with the sheriff.

The thought that a white man would target a family because they were black took hold deeply for some, and reflected on the deep divisions in race relations today.

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I don't want to quote too much. The rest of the article can be read here: https://www.vox.com/2019/1/6/18170617/suspect-arrested-jazmine-barnes-death

Such a tragedy. Rest in Peace Jazmine

 

[Miles X]

So tragic and a completely unneccessary situation. RIP Jazmine.

 

[DevilMayGuy]

RIP. Glad the suspects were caught; hope it brings her family some small amount of closure.
Witness testimony continues to be unreliable. Crazy how far off the mark the sketch was.

 

[Dook's Revenge]

Glad the real criminal was caught before someone "fitting the description" got harmed.

 

[Thorn]

The Right Wing is having a field day that this ended up being a Black on Black Crime.

Some are even calling for the arrest of the Mother and Daughter... As if the falsely identified white person is the REAL victim in all of this.

Its fucking disgusting.